Upon his arrival at Longbourn Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley could hear Mrs. Bennet's displeased screeches while the servants ran amok to gather the belongings that Mr. Bennet would need to bring Lydia home. The two gentlemen steeled their courage before entering the house because they did not wish to get between a very silly woman and the man that they needed to get permission from to court his two eldest daughters. One more voice joined the fray and that was of Miss Kitty Bennet who was very pleased that Lydia was going to be forced to return to Longbourn. After all it was not fair that Lydia got to stay in Brighton with the officers without her sister along for the ride. Kitty deserved to go and see the officers more than Lydia did since she was two years older.

The two eldest Bennet girls were in the front hall trying valiantly to stay out of the way while still mediating between their mother and father. Jane's face lit up as she noticed Mr. Bingley coming up the front walk and Elizabeth gently bit her lip as she considered that she now had the perfect opportunity to apologize to Mr. Darcy for her harsh speech at Rosings and to test out the waters and see if he still loved her. Mr. Bennet did something that he rarely did in his household he raised his voice. He ordered Mrs. Bennet back to her rooms until she could address him respectfully as the head of the household, then he ordered Kitty to one of the drawing rooms to work on some sort of project that would keep her occupied for a few hours and he shouted at Mary to practice the piano forte after he had left since the songs that she loved were giving him a headache.

He had just finished delivering his orders when he noticed that Jane and Elizabeth were staring out of the front door at Darcy and Bingley. He greeted the two gentlemen politely before informing them that he had an urgent errand to run and expected to return to Longbourn the next evening. He would have invited the two men in for tea but was stopped by the screeches of Mrs. Bennet when she realized that Mr. Bingley had returned to the neighborhood and would now be able to court Jane. Embarrassed by his wife's loud voice Mr. Bennet asked the two gentlemen to return in a few days after they were happily situated at Netherfield and then to join him hunting birds at the back of his property since it had been years since they had been thoroughly hunted.

Being true gentlemen Bingley and Darcy assured Mr. Bennet that they would be pleased to join him in his hunting trip within a few days and would call upon him when his urgent business out of town was concluded. Then Mr. Bennet jumped into his carriage that had been brought around from the stables and quickly rushed off to Brighton to recover his wayward daughter that was attempting to ruin the Bennet family name. Jane then recovered her wits and invited Darcy and Bingley inside for some tea that they enjoyed until another group of visitors arrived. The Gardiner family.

Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner were a bit confused at seeing Mr. Darcy having tea with their nieces but assumed that he was there as a chaperone for Jane and Mr. Bingley. They were about to gather Elizabeth's things to leave when Mrs. Bennet heard her brother's voice and started to wail to Mr. Gardiner about Mr. Bennet leaving to retrieve Lydia from Brighton for no reason. While Mr. Gardiner listened to his sister's wails of distress Mrs. Gardiner sat and talked with Jane and Elizabeth about the situation that was developing.

She sat in horror as Elizabeth described the letter that arrived from a Colonel Fitzwilliam whom she'd only met once at Rosings. He was the cousin of Mr. Darcy and had no obligation to the family except for a friendship with Elizabeth that had developed while they were both at Rosings Park holding court with Lady Catherine deBourg. Mrs. Gardiner was shocked that Lydia's actions were worse than she had ever imagined and to be reported from a person who was unrelated to the family was an embarrassing experience that no one should ever wish to experience again but all Mrs. Bennet could think about was getting her youngest child engaged before she returned home since she had all the tools that she needed to snare an officer.

Especially an officer like Mr. Wickham with his charm and good looks, it was only too bad that he did not have four or five thousand a year like her favorite child deserved. Mrs. Bennet's shrieks continued into the evening until one of the servants was able to return from the pharmacy with a sleeping drought that was slipped into her tea.

Mr. Gardiner apologized to Elizabeth as he announced that it would be impossible for the three of them to leave for their tour of the lake country because he did not feel comfortable leaving his children at Longbourn to witness the spectacle that would erupt when Lydia was returned to the house in shame. In fact they would leave to get rooms in Meryton to keep the children from being exposed to both Lydia's and Mrs. Bennet's behavior when they were reunited to mourn Lydia's cancelled trip. Elizabeth was absolutely devastated that she would be missing their trip because she was looking forward to traveling with her aunt and uncle.

The only benefit to staying in the neighborhood was the fact that Mr. Darcy was staying at Netherfield and they could finally have the private conversation that she had been hoping for since she left Rosings Park. After Mrs. Bennet fell asleep the Gardiners traveled to Meryton for the night and promised to return the next morning after they found someone to watch their children for them.

While traveling in the carriage Mr. Gardiner commented to Mrs. Gardiner how interesting it was that Mr. Darcy would be at Longbourn just a day or two after he'd come to their shop in London. This had to be more than a coincidence that the man would request to become a silent partner in their business and then be around their niece mere hours later. Maybe there was more to Mr. Darcy than they had first assumed since she was a young girl Mrs. Gardiner had dreamed of becoming acquainted with the family that lived at Pemberley. Maybe this was going to be her chance.

Elizabeth and Jane were preparing for bed when they started talking about the two gentlemen who had come for tea this afternoon while their mother was having a very loud, embarrassing fit. Although they both agreed that since the men did not run away when they heard their mother's shrieking that there was a chance that Jane would receive a marriage proposal very soon. Jane commented that Mr. Darcy was not very talkative while he was visiting.

Elizabeth responded that Mr. Darcy is a man of few words but he would probably say more as he started to feel more comfortable around them all. Her outlook on the man had very quickly changed after reading his letter at Rosings. He was a man who often took too much upon himself and was very loyal to his friends and family. She could only hope that he was still interested in making her part of his family. After all he was the only man that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with since he was able to keep up with her wit and was obviously not that afraid of her family since he did come back and bring his best friend with him. Charles Bingley's presence could only mean that Darcy had kept his promise and confessed everything. Mr. Darcy was definitely a man of his word, now the only problem was how she was going to get him alone to talk to him. Elizabeth went to bed with a smile on her face.

Darcy left in his carriage within an hour of leaving tea with the Bennets. His journey was quite quick because his horses were in great shape. It was late afternoon when he finally arrived in Brighton and rented a room in a local inn. He sent a message to Colonel Fitzwilliam who was staying in the home of Colonel Forster. Within an hour Colonel Fitzwilliam arrived at his room to discuss their plan of action. Colonel Fitzwilliam planned to arrest Lt. Wickham before dark because he feared that Wickham would do something stupid like try to run.

Wickham knew better than to stay in the area when he knew that Colonel Fitzwilliam was prowling around in the area. Colonel Forster had been informed that one of his officers, more specifically Lt. Wickham, was going to be arrested for criminal activity that Colonel Fitzwilliam had seen and been investigating while he was in Brighton. Colonel Forster's job was to make sure that Lydia Bennet didn't try to escape with Wickham before the arrest.

Colonel Forster doubted that Lydia was wild enough to attempt an elopement but Colonel Fitzwilliam told him that he was to be on his guard and if Lydia Bennet did manage to an escape to elope with Lt. Wickham that he would be held personally responsible and that it would be very difficult for him to retain his current command post. This veiled threat was enough that Colonel Forster placed two men outside of Lydia Bennet's window and after she had gone to bed had securely locked all of the doors to Miss Lydia's room. So during the night when Lydia tried to escape Colonel Forster caught her immediately when one of his men reported that Miss Bennet attempted to climb out the window upon her discovery that her door was locked. Colonel Forster then instructed her to pack because her father was going to be summoned to collect her immediately.

Where is Mr. Bennet you ask? Well his progress was halted at one of the smaller towns when one of the wheels on his carriage broke on a fairly deep pothole. The wheel was to be repaired during the evening but upon its completion it was much too dangerous to complete the journey without fears of getting attacked on the road. Mr. Bennet was very displeased by this unexpected set back and he feared that his lax treatment of his two youngest children would lead the family to a dismal future. He also realized that it was well past time for him to take his wife to task; she was not doing a good job at encouraging their daughters to behave properly both at home and at public assemblies.

They were determined to flirt with every man they met and get married very young to handsome young men. Only it was too bad they did not act in ways that would lead to marriage instead of random flirtations that would compromise their reputations until he would have to bribe men to marry his daughters through arranged marriages. To complete this feat he would have to reallocate funds that his wife usually spent on pretty clothes for herself and the girls and generally spend less money in town.

Mr. Bennet feared this particular conversation that was long overdue with his wife because he had never curtailed any of the girls spending before. Their allowances would have to be reduced and all money would have to come from him instead of through his wife, she would also have to be put on an allowance that would cover the entire household spending. It would not be a very pleasant task since she was already cross with him over his trip to recover Lydia before she allowed herself to be compromised by a poor soldier with few chances to make a decent living for a flighty little wife.

Lt. Wickham was quite the example; he was very charming, could definitely tell a good story, but his ability to afford a young wife was in doubt. He was not even in the regulars; the guarantee of a steady paycheck was not even present. It was Mr. Bennet's experience that young men who were employed in the militia did not make good husbands because they usually lacked ambition and ability to succeed in the armed forces. He contemplated his future while staring into the flames of the fire of his room.

The arrest of Mr. Wickham was anti-climatic when Colonel Fitzwilliam entered the tavern that Wickham was drinking in and told Wickham that he was under arrest and he could either come quietly or he could die where he stood. Wickham left the tavern quietly and proudly telling his fellow officers that it was all a mistake and he would deal with it before the night was over. Colonel Fitzwilliam leaned over to him and comment that Wickham was lucky that there were witnesses to who was arresting him since if they'd met in a dark alley only one of them would be leaving it alive for his sins. Wickham paled a little and said no more as they walked together to the town jail where Wickham would be staying until the investigation was complete and Wickham's debts could be tallied and he would travel to his new home at debtor's prison.

With the public debts that he had and with no connections willing to help him the chances of Wickham ever leaving the prison were very slim although there was always the chance that he could get someone else's relations to pay for his release but if that ever happened Mr. Darcy was ready and willing to make new allegations that Wickham had defrauded his estate and keep Wickham in prison until his death. Colonel Fitzwilliam announced to Colonel Forster that the investigation would be wrapped up in a day or so and that he would probably need to keep a closer eye on his officer's activities after hours especially when it came to getting credit from different shops in town. Colonel Fitzwilliam did not want to make an unfavorable report with regard to Colonel Forster's leadership skills but he would if this ever happened again.

Colonel Forster was so thankful that he would not lose his position that he told Colonel Fitzwilliam to call upon them whenever they were in the same town and Colonel Fitzwilliam would always have a seat at their table. With this happy turn of events there was nothing to keep Mr. Darcy occupied in Brighton so he called for his carriage to leave the following morning. After all he did not want Mr. Bennet to start asking questions like how Mr. Darcy happened to arrive in Brighton before him especially since Mr. Darcy had enough time to enjoy a lovely tea with Mr. Bingley and Mr. Bennet's two eldest daughters after Mr. Bennet himself left Longbourn. He spent the night in the inn and then at dawn the next morning he entered his carriage and began the journey back to Longbourn. After all by this time Bingley should have proposed to Miss Bennet giving Bingley an excellent reason to visit the Bennet's often. This had the added bonus of allowing him an excuse to accompany his friend as a chaperone until he managed to get up the courage to propose to Elizabeth Bennet.